Above a Common Bound
by Auburn Red
Summary: Maurice fic. Third Child of the Greenwood story. A discussion of Romeo and Juliet and the nature of love lead to some honest revelations among Alec, Maurice, and their son.
1. Chapter 1

Above a Common Bound

By Auburn Red

Disclaimer: Once again Maurice and Alec belong to E.M. Forster and Merchant-Ivory and Georgie Hall-Scudder belongs to me. Romeo and Juliet belong to William Shakespeare.

"You are a lover,

Borrow Cupid's wings

And soar with them

Above a Common Bound"

-Mercutio Romeo and Juliet Act I. Scene IV. William Shakespeare

Chapter One: Romeo and Juliet

The wind and rain beat down on the windows and the roof overhead. Georgie Hall-Scudder occasionally glanced from the warm fire that he lay sprawled in front of and the book that he was reading to listen. It was cold this night, like it often was in late autumn. He hoped that the weather wouldn't be so bad that he couldn't go hunting with his Da the next day. He had fun on those trips. Even when he and Da didn't get anything, the two still enjoyed it with his father's funny stories and the songs that they sang.

He glanced over at his Da as Maur handed him a cup of tea to warm his insides. He had been out doing the wood cutting and had only just entered less than a half-hour ago. He was still shivering holding his hands together to warm by the fire. His and Maur's hands briefly touched as he accepted the mug. "Thank you," he said his voice hoarse from the cold.

"It will warm you," Maurice said to Alec. "It takes a lot more to that these days. You aren't as young as you used to be."

Alec winked at his son. "I am still young enough where it counts, certainly as young as I feel." Georgie laughed. Sometimes his father and uncle would often tease each other, to annoy, provoke, but more often than not it was usually done with a smile or a wink that the 8 year old knew were acts of friendship between them.

"But not as young as you think you are," Maurice said back as he returned to his rocking chair and mending Georgie's trousers.

"Looks who's talking," Alec countered pointing at Maurice. "I ain't the one who needs to wear reading glasses to see what's in front of me."

Maurice blushed and put his glasses over his head and lay the trousers and sewing kit on his lap. "And yet you have more gray hairs than I do."

"Well it was you two that gives them to me," Alec said pointing to the other two in the room. Georgie laughed and Maurice shook his head and returned to his mending. Actually, Maurice's hair had become white but was hidden within the golden strands while Alec's hair and beard were long grizzled with gray. Both had long begun to show their ages through the lines on their faces not from the natural progression of years but mostly through the hardships that the small family had endured, but there were still youthful presences in their voices and their demeanor.

Maurice nodded at Georgie. "What are you reading?"

Georgie looked down at his book. "Romeo and Juliet. It's for school."

Maurice nodded. "Ah never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." He quoted.

"You read it?" Georgie asked. "At university?"

Maurice smiled. "Well I first read it when I was a little younger than you are. But, I have read it many times since then."

When he was younger, Georgie was in awe about the fact that Maur had gone to University. He never knew anyone that had (well except his current teacher, Mr. Phillips). He thought that Maurice must have been the smartest man that he ever knew (To which Maurice always laughed and said, "Oh dear God no. Not even close. In many ways your Da is a lot smarter than I.")

Alec scoffed as he lit his pipe. These were conversations that he wasn't really a part of. Since they moved around so much, Maurice had educated Georgie the first few years from home before he allowed the small boy to begin attending school. The upshot was even though Georgie had technically began school a year behind other children his age, because of his guardian's tutoring, he became several steps ahead of them academically. Maurice continued to helped the young boy with his scholastic pursuits and Georgie had developed a fondness for learning that the two often shared discussing mathematical puzzles, books that they read, or other academic interests. This was a world that Alec was an outsider to, just as the world of the outdoors, the hunting and fishing trips, and Alec's knowledge of different types of animals and plants were things that were sometimes foreign to Maurice but instinctive in Georgie's father as they were beginning to be with him.

Between the two of them, they had both brought parts of themselves to the little boy and he emerged feeling a strong bond with both of his guardians.

"It's alright, until the end," Georgie said indicating the book.

"What's the matter with the end?" Maurice asked.

"Well they go and kill themselves don't they, why?" the young boy asked. From his chair Alec nodded vigorously.

"Because they loved each other and did not want to be separated," Maurice said. "For them it was a better choice to die together than live apart."

"Seems rather daft to me," Georgie shrugged as he resumed reading. "It ain't thinking right."

Maurice laughed. "Sometimes when you are in love, you allow yourself to do things that you never would have thought before. Sometimes there isn't a lot of thinking to love."

"Lot of rubbish the whole thing is," Alec growled from his chair.

Maurice tightened the thread on Georgie's trousers, and pulled at a loose piece with his teeth. "Oh really," he teased. "And do tell, let's hear your commentary."

Alec took out his pipe and pointed at the two emphasizing his point. He had never read or seen Romeo and Juliet, but he had heard about it often enough from Maurice and as always had an opinion. "Seems to me that this Juliet, now she had the steadier hand. She should have come up to him and said 'Look our families don't like each other, the Prince won't let us get married, so let's run off together to some other city and to hell with what everyone else thinks.' This Romeo should have done it too!"

"Oh that's what they should have done?" Maurice asked a knowing sly smile spread across his face.

"Yeah that's what they should have done," Alec nodded convinced how right he was in his opinion.

Maurice grinned. "And what would have happened if Romeo had said that he had gotten a job in another place, say Mantua, and the boat was leaving on Saturday, and facts were facts and that things would never work. It would have been the ruin of them both."

Alec stared gobsmacked at the other man and then paled. He looked the exact same way that Georgie did the previous week when he had broken a window and tried to create a story about it. Little did he realize that Maur had already seen it happen. No doubt Georgie's Da must have done or said something wrong.

Alec looked down at his pipe and gulped a few times obviously embarrassed. "Well then, I suppose then Juliet might have said something like it was a chance in a thousand that they met and they may never have another like it. Romeo would have gone back to her then."

Maurice smiled warmly. "Yes, I'm sure that he would have."

Georgie broke the silent moment. "I don't like that either." His father and his uncle looked down at him confused. "They should have been honest shouldn't they have been. They would have ended up saying good-bye to their familes and everything that they ever knew. Shouldn't they have told them the truth?"

Maurice and Alec exchanged another tense glance. "Yes, they should have." Maurice agreed. "But sometimes you can't always tell the truth about what you feel. Sometimes for whatever reason, people won't always understand."

"It isn't right, then," Georgie said.

"No it ain't," Alec agreed. "Unfortunately sometimes that's how it is. But being with that person is worth any sacrifice."

"Really," Georgie asked skeptically.

"Really," Maurice answered. "It's always worth it."

"Well I hope I would never do anything where I'd have to leave you two," Georgie said. "I don't think that I could."

Maurice laughed. "And I'm sure that you never will." He looked up at the clock. "Anyway, it's past your bedtime."

Georgie's lip opened in a pout and he stamped his foot slightly. "What no!"

"Yes," Maurice said. "Anyway if you want to go hunting with your Da tomorrow you have to get up early."

"Da," Georgie whined hoping that Alec would disagree.

Alec held up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "You better listen, Georgie, you know how Maur gets when you don't!"

"Alright," Georgie moaned. He stood up and gave Alec a hand clasp. He then pulled the small boy aside and enveloped him in a giant bear hug. "Good-night Da." Georgie then moved over to Maurice's side and hugged him across the neck. He patiently waited as Maurice kissed him on the cheek and let his hair brush past him. Georgie tugged at a strand of Maurice's hair just as he did when he was little. "Good-night Maur," he said. Both his guardians bade him good-night as the small boy ran upstairs to his bedroom.

Maurice and Alec waited until the boy's footsteps died down and the bedroom door closed. Maurice then moved from the chair and sat on the floor at Alec's side. First he rubbed the other man's hands in his own and then moved up his arms to his shoulders. Then he looked him in the eye. "And was it worth it for you Mr. Scudder?"

Alec smiled. "It was always worth it, Mr. Hall." Alec answered as he kissed his lover. The two then fondled and kissed each other embraced by the warmth of the fire. They were so involved in their embrace and kiss, that they didn't notice a pair of small feet tip-toe down the stairs and just as hurriedly run back up.


	2. Chapter 2

Above A Common Bound

Chapter Two: Learning The Truth

Georgie sat at the breakfast table poking his eggs with his wooden fork. What he saw last night confused him. Da and Maur were kissing! Wasn't that alright, after all they kissed him good-night. He knew people kissed when they loved each other. But the kiss wasn't like that. It was different. He remembered seeing some of the older courting couples in the villages or at the treats that his guardians allowed him to go. The kisses looked a lot like theirs. So his Da and Uncle were courting? But all the courting couples that he knew were men and women, did men even court each other and what about women did they? Could they marry and have babies? If so, then how come he didn't know anyone else who lived with only two men or two women?

Also, every book that he read, every story that he heard had a man and a woman in love. Were they the only ones? His mind drifted back to when he was little and his guardians would tell him stories, oh typical stories to be sure, but sometimes they, Maur especially, told him stories that he had never heard before like Achilles and Patroclus, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, David and Jonathan (reminding him that David's love for Jonathan "surpassed that of women"), and his favorite, "The Prince and The Woodcutter." Were these stories of men courting each other? The way that they told these stories, it seemed like a good thing but he couldn't ignore what the Vicar said and what some of the other boys were laughing about later.

He looked at his fathers. They seemed normal, same as ever. Da was shoveling down his food. Maur had laid out the biscuits and placed some bacon on his plate. He passed the pot over to Georgie and admonished, "Georgie, you are supposed to be eating your food not making pictures with it," he said. "Now eat up if you want to go with your Da later."

Georgie looked up at his parents. Georgie only knew one thing: He was a confused little boy. When he was often confused, he would ask his father or his uncle and they would help him out. But this problem concerned them and he wasn't sure what he should do. Still it was worth a try. He took a deep breath and look straight at the two men who raised him. "Why didn't you tell me that you two love each other?"

Both older men stared at the little boy in silence. "What are you talking about Georgie?" Alec asked.

"Last night after I went to bed, I came down to get my book-" Georgie began.

"-Yes, as I have told you many times, you need to put your things away after you are finished with them," Maurice said in an attempt to change the subject that was less of a parental warning than a desire to get a handle on this very odd, possibly confrontational situation.

Alec cleared his throat to silence his partner, was he his lover, his husband, his intended, Georgie didn't even know what to call them anymore. "Go on then, lad." Alec prompted.

Georgie looked down at his food. It was probably cold by now. "Well I saw something."

Maurice put his hand around the young boy's shoulder. Normally, it would have made Georgie feel comforted. Now it just made him nervous, he pushed away. Maurice moved his hand back. "What exactly did you see Georgie? You know you can tell us anything."Maurice said as Alec nodded. Georgie looked up. The eyes were still Maur's ever watchful, ever comforting. They were still Da and Maur, what had changed during the night?

"Well, I saw Maur sitting on the floor next to Da and you was touching his hands. Then you started moving upwards like and you were...kissing," Georgie sighed. "So are you two courting or are you married? Are men allowed to even get married?"

Maurice and Alec glanced at each other offering half-grins both fighting the urge to laugh. Maurice shook his head. "No, Georgie, unfortunately men are not allowed to get married, but yes your Da and I love each other very much. I suppose you could say that for all intents and purposes we are married."

"That's right son, there ain't no one that I would rather be with more than Maur," Alec said taking Maurice's hand. Maurice blushed and smiled back at his companion.

Georgie smiled but he still felt embarrassed even slightly betrayed. "So why didn't you tell me that?"

Alec putting his hand to the boy's chin. "Well tell us the truth, how did you feel when you saw it?"

Georgie thought for a minute. "Well kind of confused at first, but I don't know. It just seemed normal somehow like I should have expected it."

Alec moved his hands as he often did when he spoke and pointed at the young boy. "Well there you are then, Mite. We didn't tell you because we didn't have to tell you. You know all along." He ruffled the boy's hair. Despite himself, Georgie giggled and absently smoothed it back.

Georgie thought for a minute. What his Da said made sense. He thought of the way that his guardians looked at each other sometimes, how their hands touched for a long time, then pulled back. The times when his Da was injured and Maur would be beside himself crying. When things got rough and there wasn't enough to eat, or the winter was shivering cold how long after they thought Georgie was in his room asleep, the two would sit up all night holding each other for strength. Sometimes even the quiet moments came to mind like when the three of them sat before a fire, and Georgie would be lying between them like a child between his two parents. No, not like a child and their parents. They were a child between his two parents! As far as Georgie could tell, that was what married people did and his guardians, both his fathers, were married!

Georgie pointed at Alec. "So you're my Da," he said. He knew that he was adopted, but he never heard much about either of his birth parents-not that he ever really wondered about them. They both told him that they didn't know them that well, that his father left before he was born and his mother died. So the two men raised him from the time he was an infant. They were the only family that the little boy knew and the only family he ever wanted or needed. He pointed at Maurice. "What does that make you, are you my uncle then?

Maurice laughed and touched the young boy's shoulder. This time Georgie welcomed it. "Well what would you like to call me?"

Georgie shrugged as Maurice ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, it would be kind of confusing to call you Da besides-" He couldn't put it into words. When other kids that he knew talked about their mothers and what they did, Georgie's mind always drifted to Maurice. He cooked for them, cleaned up after them (which he always said took more of his time than was necessary with cleaning up after the very untidy messes that were Alec and Georgie). Maur was always there to kiss Georgie good-night, or make the nightmares go away, and the first one in the room when he was sick. Maurice seemed like the closest thing to a mother that Georgie ever knew, but it wasn't right to call a man, "Ma" was it? "I don't know you're not my Dad and I guess you're like a Mum but I can't call you Mum that would seem weird. I don't know you're just-just-Maur!"

Maurice again laughed. "Well, I rather like hearing it. So, if you wish to continue calling me Maur that would be just fine with me."

"Me too...Maur," Georgie said with a warm smile which both his fathers returned. His face fell. "Then is it wrong that you two love each other?"

Maurice shrugged looking closely at his son. "Do you believe that it is?" One thing that Maurice vowed from the day that Georgie was brought into their lives was that he would always allow their charge to make up his own mind about how he felt about certain things.

Georgie thought. "Well some people do."

Alec smirked and sarcastically nodded. "Well if some people think it, then it must be true then."

The little boy shrugged and shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean..." He knew it was time to mention it. "Remember the treat that I went to?" His fathers nodded. Even though they were not church goers by any means, Maurice and Alec allowed Georgie to go to church treats if he were invited as he was by some other children from school. "Well the vicar was saying something about love between men being unnatural and that it would cause cities to burn like in Sodom and Gomorrah." His eyes welled. "Some of the boys were laughing about it saying men like that were shirt-lifters and inverts! The vicar laughed too. He said that people liked that were damned and were going to Hell." The eyes filled again. "You won't go to Hell will you? I won't let you! If you go to Hell, I will get a rope, come down and pull you out!"

Maurice hugged his son tightly and rocked him back and forth. "Don't worry we're not going to Hell. No one should for loving each other."

"If anyone should, it should be that vicar for spreading such codswallop!" Alec fumed.  
"Frightening these kids, acting all high and mighty about who's going to Hell and who ain't! Let me at him and I'll show him some real unnatural behavior!" He stood up and paced back and forth, putting on his coat and hat ready to leave. He headed towards the door.

"Alec no," Maurice commanded. He stood up and ran to the door blocking his lover's path. The two men stood for a moment in silence as Maurice held him by the arm. "It won't make it right." He said quietly to him as their foreheads touched.

"They must have seen us," Alec said. "He wouldn't just be talking about it on his own. When will this stop, Maurice, tell me when?"

"I don't know, Alec," he said holding him tightly. "I don't know." They embraced then Maurice took his lover by the shoulders walking him back to the table. "We may have to move again if that's the case."

Alec nodded. "Is that why we move around so much?" Georgie asked.

Alec shrugged. "Well that and because it's hard to find steady work in one place, it's easier to move around."

"Why do people think it's wrong," Georgie asked.

"Not just wrong, but illegal," Maurice said. "If we were caught, your Da and I could be arrested."

"Made to serve six months or two years hard labor," Alec agreed.

"Like Mr. Wilde in Reading Gaol," Georgie nodded remembering that he and Maur read "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" together. Now he understood what he had gotten arrested for. "They can't tell people who they can and can't love. It ain't right!"

"No it isn't," Maurice said. "As we said last night, but they believe that they can. That's why Alec and I are together at all costs and why we have you. We're still a family even if people say it shouldn't be so."

"Because when two people love each other, it's worth any sacrifice," the young boy asked understanding what they were trying to tell him.

"Exactly, son," Alec replied giving the small boy wrapping on arm around his son and reaching for Maurice. Maurice also enveloped his lover and son and the boy embraced both his fathers. They settled in a tight family hug. Alec pulled away. "Now come on my boy, this may be our last hunting trip in these woods. Better enjoy it while it lasts."

"Alright," Georgie said as he put on his coat and cap following his Da. Alec and Georgie gathered their hunting tools and guns while Maurice cleaned up the table, and then met them at the door.

"Have fun you two," he said as he kissed his son on the forehead.

"We'll bring back the largest animal that we can find," Georgie said using his small hands to emphasize the size of his potential capture.

Maurice laughed. "Goodness, I don't think our icebox will fit something that large, but I suppose we'll manage." He kissed him again then walked towards Alec and kissed him on the lips. "I've been wanting to that in front of Georgie for some time."

"Me too," Alec said returning the kiss. Georgie giggled as Alec shoved his young son towards the door. "Come on, make yourself useful and get out the door!"

Georgie smiled as Alec grabbed the young boy by the shoulder and led him out the door. As the young boy watched one father wave at them through a window and the other father lead him through the woods, Georgie thought of his parents and how right they were for each other and for him. No matter what happened as long as Georgie had his fathers, then he was the luckiest boy in the whole world.

The End


End file.
